Male: The Maldivian government said it will formally join Gambia in challenging Myanmar's 2017 military crackdown that sent around 740,000 Rohingyas fleeing into Bangladesh.

Maldives has hired prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to represent it at the UN's highest court in seeking justice for the persecuted Rohingyas, The Independent reported.

In a unanimous ruling last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Buddhist-majority Myanmar to implement emergency measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingyas -- pending a full case that could take years.

Clooney successfully represented former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and secured a UN decision that his 2015 jailing for 13 years was illegal.

Nasheed is currently the atoll nation's speaker in the national legislature.

Thousands are suspected to have been killed in the Rohingya crackdown and refugees brought widespread reports of rape and arson by Myanmar's military and local Buddhist militias.